Clarity is something that I strive for, but more as a process than as an end goal. There is no Absolute Clarity and no ‘finish line’, there are only incremental steps of improvement.
By ‘clarity’ I mean the emotional state that comes from your deep awareness of reality—the accuracy of your beliefs, the depth of your understanding, your awareness of uncertainty, your ability to understand problems and solve them, your skill in the art of rationality, your level of self-awareness.
It doesn’t mean you have all the answers, but it does mean you know where you have unanswered questions.
It’s like personal development. There is no ‘perfect you’ to reach. Personal development is all about small incremental changes to yourself that bring you closer to what you want to be, but there is no point where you say, “Aha! Finally here! Done!” Personal development is an ongoing processes; if you think you’re done you probably have a lot of work to do.
Likewise, science increases our knowledge of the world, rationality helps us to be less wrong, exercise increases our fitness. Clarity improves our awareness of reality.
There are certainly goals along the way, like having a thorough grasp of your own worldview, but it’s important to remember that we are never finished—clarity is a lifelong processes.
Alternative words could be ‘awareness’ or ‘understanding’, and I have no problem with them, the word ‘clarity’ just sits well with me.
